John Singer Sargent, Francisco Bernareggi, c. 1908
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856 - 1925)
Francisco Bernareggi, c. 1908
Oil on canvas, 26 13/16 x 19 5/16 inches (68.1 x 49.05 cm)
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, F86-26
One of the benefits of working with a strong-minded private donor, like Crosby Kemper, was that it was often possible to break the unspoken rules that dictate museum purchases. After acquiring a Sargent masterpiece such as Mrs. Wade, no curator would be allowed to go out and spend museum funds on another painting by the same artist. But Crosby was able to do so in this instance, with brilliant results. When you put this beside the portrait of Mrs. Wade, it might almost be the work of another artist, yet the two paintings speak to each other in a fascinating way, and they stand at opposite ends of Sargent’s career, since Mrs. Wade is quite early, the Bernereggi quite late. Bernereggi was an Argentine landscape painter whose chief claim to fame today is that he was a friend of the young Picasso. What’s wonderful about the painting is the amazing freedom of the brushwork, which at times almost has the look of an abstraction by Willem de Kooning.
Bibliography
Henry Adams, Handbook of American Paintings, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 1991, p 43-44.
Henry Adams, "John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Francisco Bern¬areggi," Calendar of Events, April l987, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, p 3.